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Pre-tax sports chain earnings ended at minus NOK 268 million in the first quarter.
This is the biggest deficit XXL has had in a quarter, according to Dagens Næringsliv.
A hard year
The sports chain has had a challenging year. Pre-tax earnings in the last three months of last year ended at minus NOK 460 million.
– The lack of winter conditions in the quarter combined with covid-19 has made it very difficult for all players in the industry. XXL responded quickly with a great effort to clean up its winter inventory to save money and provide an attractive and up-to-date product offering next winter. This led to strong sales, weak margins, but a solid financial position in the second quarter, XXL writes in a stock announcement.
Home Easter has meant that many customers don’t buy winter sports equipment as usual. The sports chain, on the other hand, has experienced increased demand for home exercise equipment.
Photo: Mette Finborud Børresen / NRK
XXL’s new boss, Pål Wibe, has his first business day on Wednesday. Of many, he is called the savior sent from the sports chain.
And there is also a flash of light for the company that Wibe is taking over. Because there are more coaches at home, sales of home exercise equipment have increased significantly. E-commerce sales have also increased.
– In April, we are experiencing increased demand in Norway and Sweden, especially in the categories related to the spring season and equipment for home training. E-commerce continues to experience good growth, writes the company.
Hydro with surplus
Despite the sudden slowdown in the global economy, aluminum giant Hydro increased its first-quarter earnings to NOK 2.2 billion, from 599 million in the same period last year.
Hydro increased its earnings significantly in the first quarter of 2020.
Photo: Terje Solsvik / Reuters
This happens despite the fall in aluminum prices. The successful escalation at the Brazilian Alunorte refinery and lower costs were important reasons for the increased profits.
The company’s operating income exceeds NOK 38 billion.
60,000 interest-free loan applications
Nordea bank delivered an operating profit equivalent to just over NOK 6.7 billion in the first three months of the year.
It is better than analysts expected beforehand. The bank exceeded expectations for a profit of just over NOK 4.8 billion. The corona effect was limited in the first quarter, but Hydro now predicts market uncertainty and a sharp decline in demand.
Nordea has received more than 60,000 applications for tax-free loans. Due to the crown crisis, many are struggling to repay their loan, and therefore Nordea clients have the opportunity to apply to pay only interest and costs, not fees.
Photo: Ints Kalnins / Reuters
– The Covid-19 situation challenges the world economy and causes considerable uncertainty in Hydro’s operations and business areas. Our highest priority is to safeguard the health and safety of our employees and the communities in which we operate, says CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim.
In response to the coronary crisis, Nordea, like many other banks, has opened interest-free loans.
In total, they received 60,000 requests for this in the first quarter.
A consequence of the crown crisis are businesses and customers who cannot repay the loans. The credit losses meant that the bank had to write off assets equivalent to NOK 1.7 billion. Although it is almost three times more than the same period last year, that is considerably less than half of what analysts feared.
